In my fantasy world lmao
In my fantasy world Hawayek and Baker win Worlds. That would salvage this season nicely.
In my fantasy world lmao
They train in Montreal with Marie France and Romain. At Gabois.
Loosing a 3rd grade tournament may present a challenge to Gabrielle's mental health?
Unlikely....
Nikita is yet to have his 2019/2020 twizzle flop so...
They might lose to S/K but they will never lose to G/P and them losing to C/B is highly unlikely.
I've been mulling this question over since the Four Continents ice dance event. With the French Federation imploding, and thus presumably their political power ebbing for the moment, and P/C already losing Europeans to Sinitsina/Katsalapov, P/C are more vulnerable than they've ever been since they won their first world championship. And yes, I think that may include when they were losing to Virtue and Moir.
The Russians have lined up behind S/K and pushed them to a win at Europeans, in spite of one of the most bland and dull free dances of the season. The Americans have finally lined up behind one team: Chock and Bates, who have been on the rise all season. I think P/C, whose material has not been universally beloved this season, and they've been making visible errors, are vulnerable to these two teams at least. I think it's actually very possible they may finish third at worlds, something I would have thought inconceivable at the beginning of the season. And I think there's an outside chance they finish off the podium, as Skate Canada is lobbying for Gilles/Poirier, and worlds is in Canada.
On the other hand, the judges love P/C's skating. Their quality is undeniable. I personally think their free dance is beautiful and very moving. It remains to be seen how much pull the various ice dance schools have: Gadbois (on home turf in Montreal) vs. Zhulin. For the first time in years, I think all three podium places are up for grabs and the landscape is murky.
I think the most likely outcome is P/C, S/K and C/B on the podium in some order, though I confess in my fantasies Piper and Paul (my personal favourites, who I think have the best pair of programs of the season) sneak through to snatch a medal.
What does everyone else think? Are there others who can play spoiler? It's entirely possible Hubbell and Donohue will be in the top three after the rhythm dance, if season's results count for anything. Will they be a factor?
Side question to the OP.
Do you think rusfed is pushing S/K?
And if so: why?
In my fantasy world Hawayek and Baker win Worlds. That would salvage this season nicely.
Yes, and because why wouldn't they? Every country's fed essentially will want to push its own skaters. The US is pushing C/B right now, Canada is pushing P/G, and Russia is pushing S/K. Of course they want their own skaters to win, so they will push their skaters. Inflate their scores in domestic meets, build up reputation for them, maybe overscore them on home ice. Not that it's a hugely prevalent thing, but especially in ice dance there's political factoring in the placements.
My bad.
Question was more "Why push just a couple when you have two possible medals contenders?"
Applies to US too
Yeah, this. It's killing me in this thread that no one thinks Stepanova/Bukin have anything to offer for Worlds this year. I think they're much better than S/K.
Yeah, this. It's killing me in this thread that no one thinks Stepanova/Bukin have anything to offer for Worlds this year. I think they're much better than S/K.
My bad.
Question was more "Why push just a couple when you have two possible medals contenders?"
Applies to US too
My general understanding is that there's only so much room on a podium and feds can only get so greedy. US fed and Rus fed each have two teams that are good enough for the podium, but getting both teams on the podium would be a herculean effort over the other fed politically. Also, by trying to back two teams equally, that means that they aren't as backed as a team that gets all the fed's attention. Who knows what political games go on in the back rooms, but it's harder to push two teams at once when another fed only needs to push one team.